信纸 (xìn zhǐ) — letter paper, writing paper

Definition

noun
letter paperwriting paper
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 信纸。
    Wǒ zài wén jù diàn mǎi le yì xiē xìn zhǐ.
    I bought some letter paper at the stationery store.
  • 信纸。
    Qǐng yòng xìn zhǐ xiě yì fēng xìn.
    Please write a letter using letter paper.
  • 信纸。
    Zhè zhāng xìn zhǐ de zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
    The quality of this piece of letter paper is very good.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

信xìnletter
纸zhǐpaper

信 means “letter” and 纸 means “paper”, so it is paper for letters.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紙; 纸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
氏
氏shì紙zhǐ
Same sound today

For 纸, the traditional form 紙 combines 糸 (silk) with 氏 (the sound part).

Open 纸 →
Appears in
Mail & MessagingReading & Writing

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